A Mother's Betrayal
by Stereophonic Aftershock
Summary: The Boy-Who-Died was a famous tale in the Wizarding World. Why? Because Lily Potter allowed Voldemort to kill him in exchange for her own life. But things aren't always as they seem...
1. Chapter 1

****Disclaimer**- Listen up, 'cause I am only saying this once: ****I do NOT own Harry Potter. ****Unfortunate, yes, but I will live.**

**A Mother's Betrayal  
Prologue**

_The night wet and windy, two children dressed as pumpkins waddling across the square, and the shop windows covered in paper spiders, all the tawdry Muggle trappings of a world in which they did not believe... and he was gliding along, that sense of purpose and power and rightness in him that he always knew on these occasions... not anger... that was for weaker souls than he... but triumph, yes... he had waited for this, he had hoped for it...  
'Nice costume, Mister!'  
He saw the small boy's smile falter as he ran near enough to see beneath the hood of the cloak, saw the fear cloud his painted face: then the child turned and ran away... beneath the robe he fingered the handle of his wand... one simple movement and the child would never reach his mother... but unnecessary, quite unnecessary...  
And along a new and darker street he moved, and now his destination was in sight at last, the Fidelius Charm broken, though they did not know it yet... and he made less noise than the dead leaves slithering along the pavement as he drew level with the dark hedge, and stared over it...  
They had not drawn the curtains, he saw them quite clearly in their little sitting room, the tall, black-haired man in his glasses, making puff of coloured smoke erupt from his wand for the amusement of the small black-haired boy in his blue pyjamas. The child was laughing and trying to catch the smoke, to grab it in his small fist...  
A door opened and the mother entered, saying words he could not hear, her long, dark red hair falling over her face. Now the father scooped up his son and handed him to the mother. He threw his wand down upon the sofa and stretched, yawning...  
The gate creaked a little as he pushed it open, but James Potter did not hear. His white hand pulled out the wand beneath his cloak and pointed it at the door, which burst open.  
He was over the threshold as James came sprinting into the hall. It was easy, too easy, he had not even picked up his wand...  
'Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off-.'  
Hold him off, without a wand in his hand! He laughed before casting the curse...  
_'Avada Kedavra!'  
_The green light filled the cramped hallway, it lit the pram pushed against the wall, it made the banisters glare like lightning rods, and James Potter fell like a marionette whose strings were cut...  
He could hear her screaming from the upper floor, trapped, but as long as she was sensible she, at least, had nothing to fear... he climbed the steps, listening with faint amusement to her attempts to barricade herself in... she had no wand upon her either... how stupid they were, and how trusting, thinking that their safety lay in friends, that weapons could be discarded even for moments...  
He forced the door open, cast aside the chair and boxes hastily piled against it with one lazy wave of his wand... and there she stood, the child in her arms. At the sight of him, she dropped her son into the cot behind her and threw her arms wide, as if this would help, as if in shielding him from sight she hoped to be chosen instead...  
'Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!'  
'Stand aside, you silly girl... stand aside, now...'  
'Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead-.'  
'This is my last warning-.'  
'Not Harry! Please... have mercy... have mercy... Not Harry! Not Harry! Please- I'll do anything-.'  
'Stand aside- stand aside, girl-.'  
He could have forced her away from the cot, but he saw her falter, he motioned with his wand for her to step aside, no longer wishing to use words... slowly, she moved away from the cot, the son looked at her as she did so... He would spare Lily Potter... the entire Wizarding World would know of what she had done... He now focused on the now crying child, who looked into the intruder's face with fear...  
He pointed the wand very carefully into the boy's face: he wanted to see it happen, the destruction of this one, inexplicable danger. The child stopped crying; its eyes widening as it looked at him... as though pleading for his life...  
_'Avada Kedavra!'  
_The green light flashed around the room and the boy dropped like his father... he laughed again... he turned to Lily Potter, who was surprisingly wearing a satisfied smirk...  
'Nice try,' she told him... in the doorway was James Potter...but he had died! He had killed him himself! Stunned he barely registered the man speaking the Unforgivable used on his son...  
And then he broke: he was nothing, nothing but pain and terror, and he must hide himself, not here, where the two Potters stood, but far away... far away..._

**This is my first *serious* Harry Potter fanfiction (the other being a My Immortal Parody). A Mother's Betrayal shows how Harry's life might have gone had Lily stepped aside, allowing Voldemort to murder him.  
For the most part, the prologue is taken from **_**Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, chapter Seventeen, Bathilda's Secret. **_**Any alterations are deliberate.**


	2. Chapter 2

****Note**- Now for chapter one, hope you enjoy it.**

**A Mother's Betrayal  
Chapter One  
'The Boy Who Died'**

Gillian Barker, 31 years old, and her husband, Iain, who was also 31, lived in Hogsmeade with their 10 years old son Karl.  
From the outside, they appeared to be perfectly normal people, thank you very much. They were the last people you would expect to be involved in _any_ criminal behaviour.  
Iain was a waiter at the Hog's Head Inn, one of the less favourable bars. He was a tall man, with dark brown hair and blue eyes. His wife was slim, and had chestnut hair and hazel eyes. They were both the nicest people you could find, and their son was just the same. Many people in Hogsmeade said that there was no finer boy anywhere.

However, the Barkers had a secret. The most terrible secret. They knew that if the Wizarding World discovered it, they would be arrested. Karl would never survive in a place like Azkaban, the Wizarding prison. It was guarded by some of the most fearsome creatures known to man- Dementors. Dementors could not be seen by Muggles or Squibs, and attacked their prey by feeding on their souls. They did not kill, but left behind a shell of what their victim had been.  
It was the fate to await Lily and James Potter. _The_ _Daily Prophet_ told its readers how the two Potters used their one-year-old son, Harry, as bait to kill He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.  
No one celebrated that night, only remembered the young child every year on October 31st. Halloween shared a holiday with Harry Potter Day.

The Boy Who Died, as _The Daily Prophet_ affectionately called him, would be Karl's age now, ready to receive his Hogwarts letter. Gillian and Iain encouraged Karl to control his accidental magic; they told him that there were better ways of living without the dependency on wands. The Barkers had learnt that lesson years ago...

Right now, Karl would be at the Three Broomsticks with Iain, with Gillian left planning the family's annual trip out. Every year, the three would go into the Muggle world to visit the normal places. Last year, they went to the London Eye, and spent the day in some shops. Gillian, knowing her son's love for animals, was thinking about taking the three of them to a zoo.  
She was sure that he would enjoy himself. Karl had always wanted to see lions, tigers and bears. He found them fascinating.  
Gillian knew a zoo in Surrey to take them- she had been there with her family once before. Her family was now dead, because of Voldemort, or estranged, due to magic.  
Gillian shook herself; she was being stupid. She knew that letting her thoughts linger on her sister was a bad idea. No, she had to pretend that she did not even exist! She could not let on her secret!

Smiling despite her previous thoughts, Gillian thought of Karl's face when he found out. That image stayed with her while she set about making dinner.


	3. Chapter 3

****Note** **_**A Mother's Betrayal**_** does, in fact chronicle the events of **_**Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone**_**, hence the chapters.  
See the prologue for the disclaimer.**

**A Mother's Betrayal  
Chapter Two  
The Vanishing Glass**

Nearly ten years had passed since Lily and James Potter sacrificed their son. It had also been nearly ten years since Gillian, Iain and Karl moved to Hogsmeade. The sun rose on the streets, and lit up the brass lettering on the Barker's front door. It crept into their home, which was tidy, save for last night's _Evening Prophet_, which was propped on the mahogany coffee table in the middle of the room. The photographs on the mantelpiece showed the change in the household. Ten years ago, there had been many photographs of a happy couple, holding a small boy. But Karl Barker was no longer a baby, and now the photographs depicted scenes of a brown-haired boy at the beach, the London Eye, even riding his first bicycle.

Half an hour after wolfing down their breakfast, (a typical fry-up), the Barkers Floo'ed to the Leaky Cauldron. They took a taxi from Muggle London to the zoo. The driver, a middle-aged man, was a nice man, who struck up a conversation with them. 'Never seen you before, just moved here?' he asked Iain.  
Iain shook his head, 'No, we live in Scotland. We decided to take Karl to the zoo, and Gillian remembered one she visited as a kid.'  
The conversation changed to motorcycles (They saw one speed past), '-always wanted one meself. The wife wouldn't allow it.'  
'I had a dream about a motorcycle,' said Karl, remembering suddenly, 'It was flying.'  
The driver nearly crashed into the car in front. He looked at Karl through the rear-view mirror and said, 'I wish I had your dreams lad. I'd kill to get a flying motorbike.'  
Iain shared a look with his wife. Gillian sniggered, 'Men.'

It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. Gillian and Iain noticed a family of three- a big, beefy man with a very large moustache. The mother was thin and blonde, and had nearly twice the amount of usual neck. The son looked a lot like his father. He had a large pink face, but not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair.  
Iain smirked. Gillian glared at him, 'Don't say anything, darling.'

The Barkers bought Karl a cheap lemon ice pop- it was his favourite, and he did not have much appetite after seeing the fat boy shovelling a large chocolate ice cream down his throat. Karl licked the ice pop as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like the boy, except it wasn't blond.  
After lunch, which they had in the zoo restaurant, they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, and lit with windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. The fat boy quickly found the largest snake in the place, and immediately began harassing it. It was fast asleep.

'Make it move,' he whined at his father. The man tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge. 'This is boring,' the boy moaned. He shuffled away.  
Karl moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself- no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long.  
Karl could not imagine how that must feel every day. The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Karl's.

It winked.

Karl stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't; his parents were watching a lizard eat a locust. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.  
The snake jerked its head towards the overweight man and son, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Karl a look that said quite plainly: I get that all the time.

'I know,' Karl murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. 'It must be really annoying.'  
The snake nodded vigorously. 'Where do you come from, anyway?' Karl asked.  
The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Karl peered at it. Boa Constrictor, Brazil. 'Was it nice there?'  
The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Karl read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. 'Oh, I see- so you've never been to Brazil?'  
As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Karl made both of them jump. 'MUM! DAD! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!' the fat boy was waddling toward them as fast as he could. 'Out of the way, you,' he said, punching Karl in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Karl fell hard on the concrete floor.

What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened- one second, the fat boy was leaning right up close again the glass, the next, he had leapt back with a howl of horror.  
Karl sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished.  
The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.  
As the snake slid swiftly past him, Karl could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, 'Brazil, here I come... Thanksss, amigo.'  
The keeper of the reptile house was in shock. 'But the glass,' he kept saying, 'where did the glass go?'

When they got back to their house in Hogsmeade, Gillian and Iain turned to Karl, 'you were talking to it, weren't you Ha-Karl?'  
Karl nodded. He noticed the almost slip. His father always started to call him by another name, but this was the first time he did this in front of Gillian.  
Sometimes, when Karl slept, he would dream of a blinding flash of green light. He told his parents, who looked extremely worried. They would never give him a proper answer, instead changing the subject.


	4. Chapter 4

****Note** 'Karl' can still talk to snakes, because Parseltongue is inherited. In this, I am going by the fact that 'Gillian' was descended from Salazar Slytherin. Seriously, I am NOT the only who thinks this.**

**A Mother's Betrayal  
Chapter Three.  
The Letters to a Dead Boy**

About a month after the vanishing glass incident, Gillian, Iain and Karl sat at the dinner table, eating a breakfast of toast and jam.  
Iain opened his newspaper as usual. They heard the tapping of an owl's foot against the window, 'Get the mail, Ha-Karl.'  
Karl nodded; he jumped up and opened the window for a great, barn owl. He untied the letter, and the owl took off.  
He read the address and paled:  
**  
Mr. H. Potter  
The Second Bedroom  
Barker Place  
Hogsmeade**

The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink. Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Karl saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter _H_. This, he knew, was his Hogwarts letter. Except, it wasn't his.  
Mr. H. Potter. _Harry Potter_, the Boy-Who-Died.

Why was _Harry Potter's_ Hogwarts letter addressed to _him_?

'Karl? What's wrong?' Came his mother's voice.  
It took Karl about a minute to regain his voice, 'I-I've got a letter- except it's not mine- but it is-.'  
Iain held out his hand, 'What do you mean Karl? Let me see.'  
Karl, hands shaking, handed the Hogwarts letter over to his father, who paled fast. 'Gillian! Come look at this!'  
Gillian rushed over to see what had her husband so worked up. Upon seeing the address, her eyes widened and her breathing became erratic. 'Iain! Oh my goodness- Iain!'  
Iain turned to his son, 'Karl, could you give me and your mother a moment please?'  
Karl nodded, and hurried out of the room. He listened to what they were saying through the keyhole.

'Iain,' Gillian was saying in a quivering voice, 'look at the name- you don't think-.'  
'- Gillian, relax. They use an automated quill. If Professor McGonagall knows, don't you think we would have been arrested already?'  
'Dumbledore might have mentioned it-.'  
'Exactly,' was Iain's careful reply, 'Dumbledore would have explained the situation had he mentioned it.'  
'So what should we do?'  
'We need to tell Karl the truth.'

That evening after dinner, Iain approached his son in the living room. Gillian was 'busy doing the crossword' (really, she was eavesdropping, but they didn't need to know that). 'Karl, about that letter.'  
Karl looked up, immediately torn between intrigued and scared, 'what about it dad?'  
'There is something we haven't been telling you. We are not the Barkers. We are James and Lily Potter, and you, Karl, are Harry-.'  
He spent the evening, with a little help from 'Gillian' explaining all about that Halloween night. '- We had help from Dumbledore and Snape,' 'Iain' was saying, 'Wouldn't have needed it if he hadn't been such a nosy git, though.'  
Gillian shot him a look, 'Snape's a professor at Hogwarts, he teaches Potions, but I think he really wants the Defence Against the Dark Arts position.'  
'Here,' 'Iain' said, he gave his son the Hogwarts letter, 'This is yours, so you might as well read it.'

_**HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY  
Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE  
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)**_

_**Dear Mr. Potter,**_

_**We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.**_

_**Term begins on September 1**__**st**__**. We await your owl by no later than July 31**__**st**__**.**_

_**Yours sincerely,**_

_**Minerva McGonagall**_

_**Deputy Headmistress.**_

'I will send the reply to Dumbledore,' said 'Iain', 'Gillian, you take Karl to Diagon Alley.'  
'Why?' asked Karl, 'can't we get most of the books and equipment here?'  
Gillian nodded, 'Yes, but every eleven year old goes to Diagon Alley, it's special that way. Besides, you haven't been there yet. Wait until you do!' her eyes lit up as she told him this.  
Karl nodded, he was eager to escape to his bedroom. Stifling a yawn, he stood up, 'I'm going to bed. G'night mum, night dad.'

Lying down on his bed, Karl thought about the day. _I can't believe this_, he thought, _Harry Potter... is me! _I'm_ the Boy-Who-Died... It's been strange... I can't believe mum and dad _lied_ to me like this! I wish I understood it all...  
_Knowing that it would be ridiculous to dwell on his thoughts, Karl closed his eyes, and dreamt of Quidditch.


End file.
